Broom-clamp



E. WARD.

BROOM CLAMP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT, 24. 1920.

Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

IN VENTOR mow/w UNITED STATES EUGENE WARD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORKBROOMrCLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 19211.

Application filed September 24, 1920. Serial No. 412,462.

To all whom z't may concern: 7

Be it known that I, EUGENE WARD, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom-Clamps, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to household appliances, and has particularreference to clamps or bridles used in connection with brooms.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a means whereby anordinary house-' hold broom is preserved in straight and usablecondition for a much longer period of time than is generally true,taking into ac count that the usual practice is for a broom to be stoodwith its head directly upon the floor and in a position calculated tocause bending, breaking, and rapid deterioration of the strawsconstituting said head.

Another object of the invention is to provide a broom clamp of anexceedingly simple and relatively cheap construction, adapting it to beput on the market so that any house keeper or other person may readilyapply the same to a broom with facility and at a low cost, the clampbeing adapted for successive use on other brooms after it has served itspurpose on the first broom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a broom clamp having meansfor hanging the broom, head upward, when it is not being used forsweeping.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose ofillustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of my improvement applied to a broom, as in a hanging position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the clamp.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the clamp.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional detail on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with the keeper turned through anangle of 90 de ees.

ig. 6 is a vertical transverse section on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

and thickness. At about the middle this body member 10 is bent at 11constituting a flexible loop, the metal being left straight or flat incross section at the loop for the sake of free flexibility thereof atthis portion.

The end portions of the strip of material are bent toward each other inrounded shoulders 12, while the extreme ends are bent outward from theshoulders as indicated at 13 and 14 and so are adapted to liesubstantially flat against each other .in clamping position. Swiveled inthe end portion or lip 13 is a keeper 15 having a finger piece forrotating it. This keeper is made of flat material and the neck portion16 thereof is materially wider than it is the latter lip 14 is providedwith an open ended slot 17 adapted to register with the keeper. Thewidth of the slot 17 is barely greater than the thickness of the metalof the keeper so that the lip portion 14 may pass either directly overthe keeper when turned in its open position or because of theflexibility of the loop portion it may be caused to slide beneath thefinger portion thereof bringing the shank 16 in registry with anenlargement 18 formed between the ends of the slot in which the shank 16is adapted to lock when the keeper is turned through 90 degrees, wherebythe lip portions are locked squarely together. The clamp may be adjustedto any desired portion of the head of the broom as indicated at B, andwhen so adjusted to the broom it may be left in such position until thebroom is worn out or nearly so, and when thus used on the broom the lifeof the broom will be prolonged materially over the usual practice.

The sides or straight ortions of the body 10 of the clamp are preferablybent in transverse dimension as indicated best in Fig. 6 whereby theyare formed as channels and whereby they are rendered materially stifl'erthan the flexible loop portion 11. The lip and shoulder portions of theclamp, being short, need not be channeled for stiffness. Hence eventhough the normal width between the side members of the body may be lessthan the thickness of the broom head, the lip portions of the clamp maybe brought down against each other and locked as above described, whilethe side portions of the clamp will serve to compress slightly the sidesof the head of the broom. At 19 I show a hanger made preferably from apiece of sheet metal the same being pivoted at 20 to one side member ofthe body and having at its upper or free end a hole 21 for engagementover anail, hook, or the like, to support the broom in proper positionwhen not in use for sweeping.

I claim: V

1. The herein described broom clamp comprising a body of sheet metal ofuniform width and thickness, the same being bent at its middle portionforming a flexible loop, the metal at the loop being flat in cross section, the side portions of the body beyond the loop being channeled'fforstiffness, and

the end portions of the body remote from the loop being provided withflat lips adapted to engage in flat position directly against each otherand one of the lips being slidable 2 along the other due to theflexibility of the loop, and means to secure said lips together forholding the clamp in practice.f 2. A device as set forth in claim 1. inwhich the means [or looking the lips together com- 3 prises a keepermade of flat material and having a shank \viderthan it is thick, the

keeper being swiveled in one of the lips and the other lip beingprovided with. a slot of a Width correspondingto the thickness of 3 thekeeper, the slot being enlarged to receive the shank whenrotatingrtherein. V

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 16th day of September, A. D. 1920 EUGENE WARD.

